


woke up new

by staticbees



Category: Silent Hill (Video Game Series)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, F/M, Possibly a multi-chapter fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-09 03:42:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14708438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staticbees/pseuds/staticbees
Summary: James always knew, deep down, that he wouldn't make it out of Silent Hill alive.A mix of the In Water & Leave endings.





	woke up new

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Woke Up New, by the Mountain Goats.

_Now I understand the real reason I came to this town. I wonder... what was I afraid of? Without you, Mary, I’ve got nothing_.

 

James sat in his car, slumped down in the driver’s seat, hands resting limply on the steering wheel.

 

Mary’s body lay in the backseat. She’d be laid to rest in the town she loved so much, the lake her grave. Her eyes were closed, and her skirt was smoothed down, arms crossed over her chest, like she was sleeping. She deserved to be buried with dignity and respect, even after her illness, after what he’d done.

 

Too bad he didn’t have any flowers, James thought dimly. She had always loved flowers.

 

He stared out at Toluca Lake, fog curling off the surface like cigarette smoke, and wondered if anyone would miss him. There was certainly no one left for him to miss.

 

After a moment, he put the key into the ignition, starting the car.

 

The engine hummed underneath the soles of his feet, like some great slumbering beast, and he tightened his grip on the steering wheel with white-knuckled fingers.

 

He pressed his foot to the gas pedal and started forwards.

 

_Now, we can be together._

 

The car hit the water with a crash, and began to sink to the bottom of the lake, bubbles rising up towards the surface.

 

James could feel water pooling around his feet, rising up past his chest, his neck, towards his lungs. He tasted silty lake water on his tongue, bitter and acrid, and his eyes burned. His lungs screamed out desperately for air, and he could feel his throat closing up, chest tightening.

 

The lake surrounding him was dark and endless, as cold and uncaring as the void of space, and he took a shuddering breath, fingertips pale, lips smudged blue.

 

He plastered his hand to the car window, fingers pressed against the cool glass, suffocating alone, just like Mary had (except she hadn’t been alone, had she, because _he_ was the one who had killed her, smothered her with a pillow, _snapped_ ), just like he had always planned to do.

 

The world dimmed, and James swore, just for a moment, he could see the faint outline of a woman, skin peeling and sickly, blood trickling down her chin. She gave him a slight, sad smile, eyes a warm hazel brown.

 

He reached out desperately for her, heart sinking.

 

_Mary... Please don’t leave me again._

 

As she faded away, the world slipped from his grasp, and everything went dark.

 

. . .

 

_“James… Please. Do something for me. Go on with your life.”_

 

James’ eyes snapped open, and he took a gasping breath, frigid autumn air filling his lungs.

 

He was lying on the ground next to the lake, bleary-eyed and disoriented, as if he had just woken in the middle of a dream. A thick blanket of fog covered the town, and the world was hazy, like water through glass, rippled and distorted. A headache pounded behind his eyes, hands scraped up and stinging. Freezing water dripped down his back, and his clothes clung to his skin, pale and numb from blood loss and the stinging cold of the lake.

 

He stood up, fumbling to regain his balance, and began to walk towards the road, exhausted and aching. He was soaked to the bone, his head buzzing with white noise, like TV static. Cuts and bruises covered his body, clothes torn and stained with blood, like a living corpse.

 

Of course, that was what he was, wasn’t it, just a dead man come back to life. He had come here to end his life, and he shouldn’t be alive, really, shouldn’t have survived this town. He wasn't sure why the lake had let him go, dropped him on the shore like a broken doll it had grown tired of playing with.

 

 _Unless it hasn't been the lake at all,_ a voice whispered. _Unless_ … He pushed the thought away. She was gone, dead and buried at the bottom of the lake.

 

There were no ghosts here.

 

Not real ones, anyway.


End file.
